I am interesting in improving the finesse of my factory. For this reason Id like to have for instance a beaconed smelting area which works in pulses, depending on the input.
So, consider this situation:
Mining area produces steady flow of ores
Smelting area which has more capacity of processing the incoming ore and needs self regulating mechanism.
Does anybody know a good solution how to "pulse" the smelting area? I actually came up with a workable solution, but its very bad. I connected a circuit with a belt and read the contend. Depending on the content, the smelting area works or is powerless. However, this solution creates "flickering".
The point of this idea is to save the energy of beacons.
I wonder if anybody came up with a simple AND elegant solution for this problem?
Any ideas for powerswitch mechanism?
Re: Any ideas for powerswitch mechanism?
Honestly I used to use a logistic condition on my production inserters of something like Iron Plate < 20k. Obviously this doesn't work for ore on belts.
For this you can use circuit to belt to measure the density of a belt at a given spot or spots and if density drops trigger the inserters. Like you mentioned this does take some work. It's best to count multiple sequential belt segments for an average or total rather than 1 single belt segment.
For this you can use circuit to belt to measure the density of a belt at a given spot or spots and if density drops trigger the inserters. Like you mentioned this does take some work. It's best to count multiple sequential belt segments for an average or total rather than 1 single belt segment.
Re: Any ideas for powerswitch mechanism?
If you're on robotic logistics, use the roboport signal to measure the level of items you're producing, and when it gets low, turn on the beacons.
Re: Any ideas for powerswitch mechanism?
This little device is a good High/Low triggering device, I've found.
Re: Any ideas for powerswitch mechanism?
Assuming power supply is reliable, you could use a pulse counter on the entrance and exit of the smelting line.
Each ore entering the smelters increases counter by 1.
Each plate leaving the smelters decreases counter by 1.
When counter is greater than zero, power is enabled.
So, assuming it's iron ore and iron plates:
1. Entrance belt, read contents, pulse mode. Connects to counter combinator.
2. Exit belt, read contents, pulse mode. Connects to translating combinator.
3. Translating combinator. Multiplies iron plate input by -1, outputs iron ore signal. Connects to counter combinator.
4. Counter combinator. Calculates Iron Ore + 0, outputs iron ore, connects to it's own input AND to the power switch.
5. Power switch. Allows power only when Iron Ore > 0.
Each ore entering the smelters increases counter by 1.
Each plate leaving the smelters decreases counter by 1.
When counter is greater than zero, power is enabled.
So, assuming it's iron ore and iron plates:
1. Entrance belt, read contents, pulse mode. Connects to counter combinator.
2. Exit belt, read contents, pulse mode. Connects to translating combinator.
3. Translating combinator. Multiplies iron plate input by -1, outputs iron ore signal. Connects to counter combinator.
4. Counter combinator. Calculates Iron Ore + 0, outputs iron ore, connects to it's own input AND to the power switch.
5. Power switch. Allows power only when Iron Ore > 0.
Re: Any ideas for powerswitch mechanism?
Assuming that
a) there is enough input to run the machines at 100% load, and
b) the output is taken away fast enough to not jam the machines, further
c) you don't want to store items
than that flickering is what comes closest to the "perfect" energy saving because of its programmed accuracy (when a and b then energy on). Every rhythmic solution (when c is > 1000 than energy off) is less accurate, because it might happen that a or b or both are false, leading the machines to use energy they don't need for production with 100% load.
On the other side, you might want to have the machines running with down to 75% load, but this can be configured by using the correct parameters for a.
a) there is enough input to run the machines at 100% load, and
b) the output is taken away fast enough to not jam the machines, further
c) you don't want to store items
than that flickering is what comes closest to the "perfect" energy saving because of its programmed accuracy (when a and b then energy on). Every rhythmic solution (when c is > 1000 than energy off) is less accurate, because it might happen that a or b or both are false, leading the machines to use energy they don't need for production with 100% load.
On the other side, you might want to have the machines running with down to 75% load, but this can be configured by using the correct parameters for a.
Re: Any ideas for powerswitch mechanism?
If I understand correctly, you want the beacons to be active when there is a backlog of ore to be smelted, but deactivated when the smelters could handle things without beacons. I am going to assume you have handled the wiring for this and simply need the trigger for the power switch.
Read the belt or belts leading into the smelter in HOLD mode. Test for (orecount >= 7). If you have multiple belts leading into the ore area, simply read them all and multiply the count by the amount of belts you're reading. A backed up belt section has 8 items on it, so 7 is near capacity
If things are flickering too much, simply read more belt sections and set the levels accordingly. You could even add a simple level based latch to activate the beacons when ore >=7*belts and deactivate again when ore <4*belts or something similar.
Read the belt or belts leading into the smelter in HOLD mode. Test for (orecount >= 7). If you have multiple belts leading into the ore area, simply read them all and multiply the count by the amount of belts you're reading. A backed up belt section has 8 items on it, so 7 is near capacity
If things are flickering too much, simply read more belt sections and set the levels accordingly. You could even add a simple level based latch to activate the beacons when ore >=7*belts and deactivate again when ore <4*belts or something similar.
Re: Any ideas for powerswitch mechanism?
I recently started playing with circuits but I haven't gotten back to finishing/cleaning up the design and it's pretty messy at the moment. I have trains bring in ore which unloads to (input) chests and from those onto belts, the belts run through the smelters and into (output) chests, which are then loaded into trains. (The input/output chests are just your typical train stations to unload/load stuff.)
The smelter only has power if there is ore in the input chests and if there is room in the output chests. This results in some ore always being left on the input belts and in the smelter (if the input chests empty or if the output chests fill up) but that's hardly a big deal. I stack smelters, but power each row separately in this manner for each train station that it services. Trains enter stackers before entering the array of stations. Input stations are disabled if they have more than the average chest contents for the array so the array stays balanced (all stations have the same name). Output stations are disabled if they have less than a train load of chest contents.
So far still in very experimental stage, but it may work for you or give you an idea?
The smelter only has power if there is ore in the input chests and if there is room in the output chests. This results in some ore always being left on the input belts and in the smelter (if the input chests empty or if the output chests fill up) but that's hardly a big deal. I stack smelters, but power each row separately in this manner for each train station that it services. Trains enter stackers before entering the array of stations. Input stations are disabled if they have more than the average chest contents for the array so the array stays balanced (all stations have the same name). Output stations are disabled if they have less than a train load of chest contents.
So far still in very experimental stage, but it may work for you or give you an idea?